Wild Chase Read Free Page A

of the song with all the power and emotion I could.
    Nearing the end, I opened my eyes long enough to lock them with my sexy stranger again and it sent my stomach into knots. I had a brand new understanding for all of the songs and books that I’d buried myself under all these years. I forced myself to look away from him long enough to finish out the track.
    The cheers that roared through the bar startled me; I let out a laugh as I took in the happy crowd.
    “Thank you so much!” I spoke into the mic, hoping they couldn’t tell that my voice was shaky with happy tears.
    My last song started up and I crushed it. It wasn’t a classic like the others, but was one I loved, and I knew I could sing it without a problem. “Waiting,” by Michael Tolcher wasn’t mainstream, but it fired up something deep within my soul. My own voice rang through the speakers and rattled when I hit certain notes, the feeling was incomparable to anything else.
    When my final note echoed through the room, I thought my heart would explode. I smiled and let out a laugh of relief and gratitude as I did another small bow. Quickly, I made my way off of the stage. The guys in the band called out ‘great job’ to me as I took the steps two at a time and found myself pressed against the cold concrete wall again.
    I did it. I had finally done it! I couldn’t catch my breath for a second as the level of emotion I had suppressed finally hit the surface, and then my laughter and panting turned into sobs. I knew this was it for me. After I was done with high school my parents had plans for me, and those plans didn’t include me going to the college of my choice. No, I was going to be sent away on a Mission to start a church somewhere. Denying the inevitable would only make it worse. There had been no discussion and I knew there wouldn’t be; it was just what was expected. My life had never been my own, but on that stage I got to hold a tiny piece of it. They couldn’t take tonight away from me. Embracing the side of myself that I had been hiding from everyone but Victoria had been such an amazing feeling. I let out a deep cathartic laugh as my sobs finally calmed. I wiped my face and pushed my hair back as I heard the band start their set. Smiling to myself, I opened the backstage door and headed out onto the floor to find my friend, and instead, ran smack into that black-shirt covered chest.

 
     
     

    The next minute played out like one of those really cheesy, slow-motion scenes out of a romance movie. We bumped into one another and our eyes slowly rose until they met and fastened on to the other’s; the electricity between us firing off, instantaneous and out of our control. Before I knew what was happening, both of his strong hands had a tender, but firm hold on my face, his fingers sinking into my soft, brown curls on either side of my head as he pulled me in for a kiss that I would remember for the rest of my life.
    My eyes fluttered shut as soon as I felt his lips touch mine. Avery faintly tasted of something sweet, and the only thought my brain could grasp onto was more. I leaned into him asking for just that.
    I can’t explain how incredible the kiss was. It was rough and gentle, innocent and fiery, all wrapped up into a memory that would be forever scorched into my mind. I felt his fingertips gently brush over my cheeks as our kiss deepened, his other hand came down, tracing a blazing path slowly down my neck, and when he grazed my collarbone, I gasped, accidentally interrupting our moment. Suffice it to say, my body’s reaction had been as much of a surprise as the kiss itself. His hand swept his shaggy hair back, and then fell to his side as a sheepish grin took over his face.
    “I guess it’s my turn to apologize. I just had to do that before you told me you were either way too young for me, have a boyfriend, or secretly had an FBI agent sent here to lure me in and kill me.”
    My flushed cheeks rose to my eyes as I smiled and